This morning I had a meeting at school at 7:30am. I did not get up at any earlier than usual. I did bathe (you’re welcome classmates). The challenge for me is not the waking up, it is the being around people and speaking in coherent sentences. Does anyone else have this challenge? Is it just me?

Fortunately, because I know how you worry, dear reader, my meeting took place at a coffee establishment so I was at least guaranteed my morning cup of joe.

3 Responses to I am not a morning person

There are several legendary accounts of the origin of the coffee. One account involves the Yemenite Sufi mystic Ghothul Akbar Nooruddin Abu al-Hasan al-Shadhili. When traveling in Ethiopia, the legend goes, he observed birds of unusual vitality, and, upon trying the berries that the birds had been eating, experienced the same vitality.

Other accounts attribute the discovery of coffee to Sheik Abou’l Hasan Schadheli’s disciple, Omar. According to the ancient chronicle (preserved in the Abd-Al-Kadir manuscript),Omar, who was known for his ability to cure the sick through prayer, was once exiled from Mocha to a desert cave near Ousab. Starving, Omar chewed berries from nearby shrubery, but found them to be bitter. He tried roasting the beans to improve the flavor, but

they became hard. He then tried boiling them to soften the bean, which resulted in a fragrant brown liquid. Upon drinking the liquid Omar was revitalized and sustained for days. As stories of this “miracle drug” reached Mocha, Omar was asked to return and was made a saint. [7]

Another story involves a goat-herder, Kaldi, who, noticing the energizing effects when his flock nibbled on the bright red berries of a certain bush, chewed on the fruit himself. His exhilaration prompted him to bring the berries to a Muslim holy man in a nearby monastery. But the holy man disapproved of their use and threw them into the fire, from which an enticing aroma billowed and the holy men came. The roasted beans were quickly raked from the embers, ground up, and dissolved in hot water, yielding the world’s first cup of coffee. The Ethiopian ancestors of today’s Oromo tribe, were the first to have recognized the energizing. Whatever story you believe,for me too it’s right up there with the invention of fire!( I like the Kaldi the goat-herder version best )

You are NOT the only non-morning person. I had a roommate who was capable of being ambulatory at an early hour but couldn’t carry on a focused conversation until after 10:30 am. It was real. You could see the sun rising on his conscious mind around mid-morning: He would acquire color in his cheeks; he would respond with more than monosyllables; he would become cheerful and sociable. ‘Twas quite n interesting phenomenon to observe.